Théo Andris, Timothée Stoerkler, Gilles Ulrich, Pascal Retailleau, Adèle D. Laurent, Denis Jacquemin, Julien Massue
This letter describes the synthesis and structural, photophysical, and theoretical properties of novel fluorescent dyes derived from 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole, functionalized by tricyanofuran or α-cyano-γ-lactone groups, prone to undergo an excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) process. We serendipitously found that tricyanofuran can induce the formation of the corresponding lactone in basic media, leading to a highly fluorescent derivative, owing to the formation of a merocyanine in the excited state.